Fasting, Feasting is a novel by Indian writer Anita Desai, first published in 1999 in Great Britain by Chatto & Windus. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for fiction in 1999. Plot summary Anita Desai's novel of intricate family relations plays out in two countries, India and the United States. The core characters comprise a family living in a small town in India, where provincial customs and attitudes dictate the future of all children: girls are to be married off and boys are to become as educated as possible. The story focuses on the life of the unmarried and main character, Uma, a spinster, the family's older daughter, with Arun, the boy and baby of the family. Uma spends her life in subservience to her older demanding parents, while massive effort and energy is expended to ensure Arun's education and placement in a university in Massachusetts. Aruna gets married. In part two the reader is introduced to Arun in America. Therefore, we can compare and contrast between the Indian and the American culture. Rather a series of events from life than a complexly plotted work, we follow the fortunes of Uma and Arun as they engage with family and strangers and the intricacy of day-to-day living. The novel is in two parts. The first part is set in India and is focused on the life of Uma who is the overworked daughter of Mama and Papa. She is put upon by them at every turn, preparing food, running errands. In the early part of the novel we see her struggling at school. She is not very bright but loves the sisters who teach and appreciate her. Finally, she is made to leave school and serve her parents. We meet many interesting characters through her; Ramu-Bhai is a traveling bon viveur who tries to show Uma a good time. He is banished by her parents. Another character is the religious Mira Masi who tells Uma all the tales of Krishna and takes her to the ashram allowing her to escape her mother's domination for a time. Uma's parents attempt to marry her off on three occasions; on the first occasion, the chosen man fell for Uma's younger sister, Aruna. On the second her parents accept her marriage on behalf of her before finding out later that their dowry has been spent and the engagement is canceled. On the third occasion,